As Harvey Passes, Texas Small Businesses Face Struggle Ahead

As Tropical Storm Harvey moves towards Louisiana, catastrophic flooding continues resulting in increased damage for small businesses and homeowners around Houston and the Texas coast. But in the weeks and months following the storm, small businesses in the area may find their greatest challenge is trying to find a way to get back up and running.

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Small Business Recovery After Harvey

This isn’t just an important factor for the businesses and their employees. Small businesses also play an important part in the community. So they have a big impact on the overall recovery of the area.

Small Business Administration disaster offices around the country — like this one in Buffalo, New York — have started hiring temporary workers to respond to the storm and help people in the area with recovery efforts.

In addition, the SBA has some disaster recovery loans available for businesses that need some financial help to repair property damage or make up for other losses due to the storm. Interested businesses can find more about eligibility and start the application process on the SBA’s website. Other entities like Express Business Loans also have disaster recovery options available specifically for businesses being impacted by Harvey.

Aside from applying for loans and assessing the damage from the storm, there are a few other things small businesses can do to pave the way to recovery. Here are some tips:

Hire licensed and trusted contractors to handle any building or repair projects at your business.

Disaster recovery certainly isn’t an easy process. But it’s an important one for small businesses and the communities they serve. And a look at Twitter shows other area businesses which have managed to make a difference as well.

Annie Pilon is a Senior Staff Writer for Small Business Trends, covering entrepreneur profiles, interviews, feature stories, community news and in-depth, expert-based guides. When she’s not writing she can be found on her personal blog Wattlebird, and exploring all that her home state of Michigan has to offer.

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